S.E. Hoops Roundup: Haines boys nip Juneau JV by a point at Hather

Late FTs launch Glacier Bears past Crimson Bears at Skagway tourney

Posted: Thursday, January 15, 2004

By JUNEAU EMPIRE

Freshman Will Egolf hit a pair of free throws in the game's last five seconds to give the Haines varsity boys team a 57-56 victory over the Juneau-Douglas High School junior varsity Saturday in action at the Don Hather Tournament at Skagway High School.

Egolf, who scored 22 points in the game and was selected the tournament's offensive MVP, helped the Glacier Bears overcome a last-minute Juneau rally that eliminated a six-point Haines lead and gave the Crimson Bears a one-point advantage with six seconds to play.

Luke Miller and former Skagway player Scott Lesh both hit 3-pointers to key Juneau's rally, then Lesh made a steal and was fouled with six seconds left and the game tied 55-55. Lesh made the first free throw to put Juneau up 56-55, but he missed the second shot and Haines controlled the rebound. Egolf was fouled and made both free throws for the victory.

Besides the 22 points from Egolf, Haines also picked up 13 points from tournament defensive MVP Daniel Stickler and nine from Chad Stigen. Lesh scored 28 points to lead the Juneau JV, while Miller had 16 points.

Haines had an undefeated weekend in boys action, as the varsity team went 4-0 and the junior varsity was 2-0 during the tournament. The tourney started on Thursday and was scheduled to end on Saturday, but some teams were delayed getting to Skagway due to weather problems so some games took place on Sunday. The Juneau JV team posted a 1-1 record in its two games.

 Tok edged Hoonah 53-50 as Cory Coleman scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter for the Wolverines, while Dustin Bowen led Hoonah with 16 points, D.J. Lindstrom had 12 and Devin Moritz 10 for the Braves;

 and Moritz scored 27 points, Bowen added 20 and Lindstrom had 11 as Hoonah beat Skagway 71-44 in a game that also counted in the Region V-Class 2A standings. Knorr led the Panthers with 20 points and Trevor Cochran added 10.

The all-tournament team featured Egolf, Stigen and Berry of Haines; Miller and Lesh of Juneau; Bowen of Hoonah; Knorr of Skagway; Coleman of Tok; MacKinnon of Vanier and Stojkovich of Porter Creek. Daniel Stickler won the free-throw shooting contest and Bowen hit 13 shots in 60 seconds to win the 3-point shooting contest.

In a non-tourney game on Monday, Moritz hit six 3-pointers and scored 24 points to lead Hoonah to a 68-59 victory over Skagway in the second game of their weekend Region V-Class 2A series.

Beau Hayward scored 30 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists as Metlakatla claimed third place in the Alaska Prep Shootout with an 82-75 victory over tournament host Dimond on Saturday at Anchorage's Dimond High School.

In Friday's semifinals, the Chiefs lost 58-48 to the eventual tournament champion Valdez Buccaneers, who beat Heritage Christian School 58-42 in Saturday's title game. Bryant had 24 points and 10 assists to lead Metlakatla, while Martinez added 11 points for the Chiefs. Tournament MVP Mark Banner scored 29 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead defending Class 3A state runner-up Valdez, which outscored the Chiefs 17-9 in the fourth quarter.

Metlakatla opened the tournament with a 61-59 victory over Class 4A Palmer on Thursday. Details from that game were reported in last Friday's Empire.

Sitka boys go 0-4 on trip north

The Sitka boys nearly pulled out the final game of their road trip to Fairbanks and Barrow, but the Wolves fell short in a 55-52 loss to the Monroe Catholic School on Monday in Fairbanks. It was Sitka's fourth loss on its four-game, five-day road trip.

C.J. Drexler scored 15 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead Monroe. Andrew Broschat scored 14 points to lead Sitka, while Tyler McCarthy and George Wathen added 12 points apiece for the Wolves. Sitka trailed 16-2 and was still down by 16 points in the third quarter before rallying to tie the score at 50-50.

Sitka lost 67-48 in Barrow on Friday as Dominick Lozano scored 20 points for the Whalers. The Wolves lost to the Whalers again on Saturday, but a score and game details weren't available.

On Thursday, Sitka dropped a 45-31 decision to West Valley in Fairbanks. E.B. Crow scored 11 points to lead Sitka.

Ketchikan boys go 3-1 in Canada

The Ketchikan boys went 3-1 on a road trip to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, last weekend, taking third place in the Charles Hays Blue and Grey Showdown.

The Kings opened their trip with a 105-37 exhibition romp over Charles Hays Secondary School on Thursday as Nate Norton scored 23 points and Derek Clark added 21.

On Friday, the Kings opened play in the Showdown with an 82-58 victory over Caledonia Secondary School of Terrace. Jesse LeBeau scored 23 points to lead the Kings, while Norton added 16 points and 16 rebounds.

In Saturday afternoon's semifinals, Ketchikan lost in overtime to eventual tourney champ Prince Rupert Secondary School 84-81. LeBeau led Kayhi with 27 points, while Norton had 22 points and 21 rebounds. In Saturday night's third-fifth place game, Ketchikan walloped Charles Hays 135-56 behind 28 points from LeBeau, 25 from Clark, 18 from Andrew Kolanko and 16 from Norton. The Kings are 6-5 overall, and open Region V-Class 4A play on Jan. 23 in Sitka.

Craig boys sweep Wrangell

Eric Hamilton scored 26 points to lead Craig to a 58-54 home win over Wrangell last Saturday, giving the Panthers a Region V-Class 3A weekend sweep of the Wolves. On Friday, Craig beat Wrangell 59-54.

Due to the deaths of three Kake residents while hunting late last month, last weekend's two-game boys and girls Region V-Class 2A series between the Kake Thunderbirds and the Yakutat Eagles were postponed. The games will take place this weekend in Yakutat.

 The Juneau Empire's weekly Southeast Hoops Roundup feature is compiled by Charles Bingham and Andrew Krueger from results sent to the Empire by school athletic directors and team coaches. Scoresheets and/or game highlights should be faxed to 1-907-586-3028 (attention sports) or e-mailed to sports@juneauempire.com by noon on Monday so this feature and region standings can be compiled. Coaches and ADs are reminded to send in their team schedules and rosters, if they haven't already done so.